The Big Muddy
by The Wolff
Summary: Two survivors must work together to unravel the mystery surrounding a prewar shipping tycoon and bring salvation to New St. Louis. Please leave a review.


The Big Muddy

_Casino King_, read the name of the pre-war steam boat run a-ground on the bank of the eradiated Mississippi. The pair of wasters had been scouring the banks of the river for hours, looking for the hulking wreckage of the ancient river boat casino.

"I don't see any raiders," the man said in a whisper.

The muddy waters began to churn, just off the sand bank on which they stood.

"Look… Demon fish... Something's disturbed 'em."

The pair retreated to the far end of the sand bank. Crouching behind a large chunk of the metal wreckage they heard the river raiders disembark their raft. With splashes and curses the vile raiders invaded the small sand island.

"We know where you are," screamed a river raider. "You think we didn't see your craft? It's docked right beside you!"

The pair looked to their left and realized he was right. The water began to churn as the raider closed in on them. He side stepped closer to the bank to get a clear shot, as his foot touched the muddy water the demon fish attacked. The leviathan slide across the sand bank, knocking the raiders into the filthy water on the far end; its razor sharp whiskers sparked as they collided with the rocky bank. The irradiated cat-fish was three times the size of the average waster, covered in slime, and armed with irradiated barbs as strong as steel. No sound came from the water, only bubbles, and the raiders were gone. The pair climbs in to the man's river boat and paddle toward the _Casinos King's_ wreckage, not daring to use the craft's nuclear engines for fear of alerting raiders or, even worse, more rad fish.

"So... What are we going to find here," the man begins, as they slowly traverse the river.

"The holotape should be in King's personal Quarters," the vault women answers.

"No. I'm talking about loot. We need caps to finance this little mission."

"According to the manifest there should be 5 gold bars, 10 silver bars, assorted precious metal coins, a large store of cigarettes, and 15 cases of hard liquor. The security report also mentions several personal safes and lock boxes."

He didn't really care about the loot he just wanted to hear her voice.

"How were the security armed?"

"In the vault there was a picture of the security detail at the ships christening. I could make out 10 millimeter pistols in their holsters. A few were brandishing shot guns, considering how profitable the ship was we'll likely find a few assault rifles."

"Good," he replied as they neared the _King_.

The pair had only met a few days ago in the market district of New St. Louis. Eve was new to the wastes, fresh out of Vault 8, and looking for help when she potted the pip boy 3000 on Black's wrist. She moved closer and, using VATS scanned his arm discovering his device was issued from her vault.

"Sir, where did you get that pip boy," Eve asked the man wearing reinforced armor made of thick black and grey fur.

"This… I got it from a friend," he replied.

"Who?"

"He was from was from some vault on the river, told me to call him Jacob. Before I knew it he convinced me to take him down river to get an air filter and a few water chips for the vault from some pre-war warehouse. Said he'd pay me when we got back. We had a heck of a good time, fought some raiders, and caught some demon fish. I found a ton of loot at the warehouse, even some reinforced steel for my skiff."

Black stopped, realized that he was rambling, and decided to get to the point.

"Any way… When we got back he gave me this as payment. Never saw him after that. I asked around the big muddy about him, but never heard a thing; he was a good man… a good friend, if there ever was such a thing out here."

Convinced he could be trusted, Eve made her plea.

"I need your help with something… something that can make life better for everyone in the wastes."

"What makes you think you can trust me?"

"Because you already helped save my home once, and you are right, Jacob was a good man. He was my friend and he talked about you when he returned home, but now he's gone… please we all need your help."

He nodded silently, agreeing to help.

"Back home in the vault, after Jacob fixed the water and air purifiers, he stumbled on a room hidden in a maintenance tunnel. It was an archive stocked with holographic tapes from before the war. We watched a few, they were mostly news clips, but one stuck out. It was labeled _King's Contingency_."

"Why did King's name stick out to you?"

"You don't know? He personally financed vault 8, there is a whole wing dedicated to his company's legacy, including some impressive models of his cargo fleet."

Eve seemed to light up talking about her home.

"There's even a section of living quarters reserved for his family. That is if they had made it to the vault before the bombs dropped, but since they never entered the pass code, their quarters weren't unlocked and no one can enter that section of the vault. Typical pre-war people, even after they are dead they don't want you to touch their stuff."

She looked to the man for a laugh of approval. She didn't get one.

"What about the holo-tape?" The man asked impatiently.

Eve reached into her bag and pulled out the holographic tape. "You're going to want to hear this first hand."

The man hastily downloaded the tape onto his pip boy. They stepped into a quit alley as the man greedily pressed play. King's calm voice sprung from the pip boy.

"War looms… Soon everything I love will be bathed in radiation. My fleet, my river, my beloved city, all poisoned. My empire will be forgotten. I take solace in the fact that my solution will endure the fallout. If you are listening… if you can hear this… you can bring salvation to the new world. Just look in the crown jewel of my empire."

The recording ended. The pip boy's display slowly dimmed darkening Eve's face.

"We can help. Whatever King's solution is we can use it to save this city, maybe even this entire region…First, we need to find the crown jewel of King's fleet. It's a steam powered river boat he named, _Casino King._"

"How do you know where the king is or that it's even the vessel he was refereeing to?"

"Before Jacob and I left home I swiped this shipping manifest and journal from king's little museum. It refers to the _Casino King_ as his jewel, and charts its last known route."

The man swiftly grabs the booklets from Eve's hands. He scans the text for information helpful to their cause.

"It will take a few days to get fuel and supplies. We'll need ammo. You'll need armor and a weapon suitable for river combat. A hook knife and suppressed pistol should do for now. Can you swim?"

"Yes. We had a tank in the vault."

"Good... By the way, you can call me Black."

Two days of preparation later and a short scouting trip up river, the pair found themselves nearing the _Casino King_. The steam boat's stern was in shambles. Its bow was balancing on shore while the stern was firmly imbedded in the river. Some craft, most likely a river raiders, had collided with the _King_'s back end, obliterating the stern wheel; both banks were littered with steel and rubber from the collision. However, the rest of the ship looked structurally sound; both chimneys still stood, as did the pilot house, even the copper bell was untouched by time or thieves.

"The king's a disaster, but at least he's an elegant one," Eve whispered, breaking the silence.

"You mean she. All ships are women," Black replied in a whisper."The bows clear. We'll board her from those landing stages."

"Since when are ALL ships women."

"Don't get mad at me, that's how it's always been."

"Then why is the _Casino King_ named after a man."

Black stayed silent, knowing he had lost the argument.

The pair walked at a crouch up the steel landing stages, trying not to alert any hidden residents of the craft. Black and Eve scanned the deck with their pip boys, no sign of hostile life appeared on VATS and the two decided it was safe to search the ship. The king was designed to last; every component of the steam boat was made from steel, plastic, or a strange rubber like material that helped to resist time and nuclear fallout. Even with its durable materials the king was decorated in the fashion of a classic steam boat. The metal decks were positioned to resemble hardwood floors; a coat of bright white paint covered the rubber walls, with brass finishings adorning the window hinges, door handles, and hand railings.

They started searching in the hull, but only found a massive nuclear engine, and a lot of empty space. Ascending to the first floor interior, Eve began scouting an expansive gambling parlor filled with card tables and slot machines while Black headed for the security room.

Black found the door magnetically sealed, with no way to break through he searched the hall for a route to bypass the door. He felt a breeze and spotted the culprit; an open window. Peering out Black discovered the security room's window shattered and retrieved his hook knife. After clearing the remaining shards and he grasped the window sill with the blades interior curve. In one motion Black launched himself out of ship and grabbed the adjacent window sill with his free hand. He hung on to the wall and slowly peered over, hoping not to find a dormant robot waiting to repel any intruders. Lucky he spotted nothing. No turrets, protectrons, or sentry bots; not even a Mr. Gutsy.

Black looted the room, securing 2 shot guns, 4 American assault rifles, and a hand full of assorted pistol. He bundled the long guns together with wire, and threw the pistols in his bag with the boxes of ammo he found in a locker. A loud hiss let him know the magnetic lock was disengaged. Black headed out to find Eve, but did a double take when he spotted something on the security chief's desk.

Eve was done scouting the parlor when Black rounded a corner.

"Look what I found," he said with a grin.

Eve grabbed the security card from his hand. It read: Full Access.

"Great. Let's find King's room."

Black swiped the card back from Eve.

"No. First we loot… the cage," he replied jokingly, in a low ominous voice.

He didn't receive the laugh he was looking for, instead he got an annoyed look shot from Eve.

"Fine. Make it quick."

The cage was hidden behind an ornate bar on far end of the gambling floor. The cage was exactly as it sounded, an entire room surrounded by a steel cage. To Blacks disappointment he only found the skeletal remains of security guards, with the exception of their chief.

"Their boss had second thoughts about his job after the bombs dropped."

"I'm sorry, but I don't see anything useful."

"Alright. Let's head upstairs," Black sighed.

The upper deck was a single hall way ending at another magnetic door. With a swipe of the keycard, and hiss of the lock they were in King's private quarters. The room was surprisingly bare; it consisted of a few pieces of furniture and a small bathroom.

"Guess having a casino on a steam boat doesn't leave much room for living space."

King's skeleton was resting on a leather couch, still donning his signature pinstripe suit and clutching a holo-tape. Eve downloaded it and played back the audio. King's voice once again sprung from the pip boy.

"Here we are at the end of the world… My solution is in place; my subterranean home has been built… But I'm too far from headquarters to activate the signal. I just wanted to see the river one last time before the new world arrived…If you can hear this…If you still care…Go to my tower, use this data to activate my network and you will breathe life into the new world."

Eve glanced at her pip boy. The coordinates of king's corporate headquarters were displayed along with a pass code labeled: Signal Initiation. Having acquired the data, Black and Eve took a short skiff ride back to Black's long boat. Steel plates were riveted to the interior giving protection from raider bullets, while tires hung on the outside to absorb impact from hostile craft or floating debris. Black lifted a tarp, revealing 2 nuclear engines. He had salvaged them from a decrepit prewar dealership covered in rubble. Black could only manage to procure 2 engines before the structure collapsed, but after a little repurposing he had the most agile long boat in New St. Louis.

A dim green glow and soft hum filled the air; heat emanated from fissionable material as the engines powered on. Eve unsheathed her hook knife and severed the anchor line. Eve braced herself as they rocketed toward the city.


End file.
